FALMOUTH — Tom Coyne put together a terrific third quarter to break open a tight Western Maine Conference schoolboy basketball game Tuesday night.
Coyne scored 23 of his game-high 37 points in the third quarter to help the Yachtsmen race to an 84-61 win over Yarmouth in an early-season matchup between top teams in different classes.
“The first quarter I started off a little slow and I missed some shots,” Coyne said. “During halftime Coach kind of emphasized getting open and finding the seam in their matchup zone and I just hit some shots. I had to keep moving and find the open spot. If I just stood still, then I wasn’t going to get open.”
Falmouth, the defending Class B state champion now playing in Class A, clung to a 37-34 lead at the end of the first half.
A 11-0 run sent the Yachtsmen into a 13-7 lead less than four minutes into the game, but the Clippers pulled within one point on seven occasions and moved into a 34-34 tie when Adam LaBrie sank his second 3-pointer of the second quarter with 1:25 left in the first half.
“We didn’t play well at the beginning of the game, but once we got into the flow and made the adjustments things started to work out for us,” Falmouth Coach Dave Halligan said. “They were getting to the rim early on us. They did a good job. They’re aggressive.”
Falmouth took the lead for good when Coyne hit the first of his six 3-pointers for a 37-34 lead with 1:10 left in the first half.
“I don’t think we played particularly well but I think we knocked down some shots and that makes a huge difference.” Yarmouth Coach Adam Smith said.
The Yachtsmen began the third quarter with a 10-0 run and ended it with a 12-0 run. They also limited Yarmouth to five points to move into a 66-39 lead.
“They put a hurting to us real early in the second half and we really never generated anything after that,” Smith said. “A lot of credit (goes) to their defense and the energy they got from those shots being knocked down.”
Falmouth did a great job against David Murphy, who poured in 36 points during the Clippers’ season-opening 90-53 win against Kennebunk last Friday night.
“We had to give him extra-special attention,” Halligan said. “We did that. It wasn’t just one guy on him. We always had a backup guy there. It was a good team effort.”
Murphy scored 11 of his team-high 19 points in the fourth quarter.
Nick Burton scored 23 points for Falmouth. LaBrie had 14 points for the Clippers; Nate Shields-Auble added 10.
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